


Mari’s World

by LizzyFranklin



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27745777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzyFranklin/pseuds/LizzyFranklin
Summary: Mari has some strong feelings about the return of the prodigal brother. International figure skater, college graduate, world traveler, golden boy.For Mari, Yuri's return means even more work, and zero assistance from her brother. Even Victor-the-international-playboy is more help! Mari makes executive decisions, drafts reinforcements, and finds someone for herself.This is essentially a triad of stories, each masquerading as a chapter. I’ve mashed them together so that I don’t have to repeat background info from one story to the next.Great thanks to Becky the vet, for brainstorming with me about reasons why they might still not know if Makka would survive after the pork bun was removed.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. Women’s Work

Mari straightened from making the bed of the best guest room when she heard the door to the shrine room open and close. It seemed the boy wonder had returned from five years of pursuing his dream of being an internationally competitive figure skater, and had gone to say hello to his dead dog before saying hello to his sister. Mouth tightening, she finished cleaning the upstairs rooms, attending the duties necessary to keep the last functioning onsen in Hasetsu in business.

She almost passed the door to the shrine/exercise room/storage space. If he didn’t prioritize her, she didn’t have to prioritize him. But she hesitated, hand tightening into a half-fist, then forced herself to relax before sliding the door open. Family was important. Still, she couldn’t keep herself from leading, “So, you decided to come home after all.” She leaned against the door frame and fumbled in her apron for a cigarette to disguise the shaking of her hands.

In a not-quite casual voice, she asked, “so, how long are you staying? You gonna help out with the onsen?” She would lay down good money that he couldn’t even list the tasks required for daily maintenance of the family business, let alone do them. His part had always been to run away to the ice rink. The ice rink, and college, and a chance to choose his future.

“So you got your degree, even though it took an extra year. What are you going to do with it?” she asked. 

He stared at her, deer in headlights. Five years to follow his dreams, and he had no idea, and not even a glimmer of a thought of helping out the family who had supported him and his dreams for the past two decades. Mari twisted the knife.

“I mean, if you want to keep skating, I’ll support you, but…”

He muttered about needing time. More time to think it over. As if he hadn’t had all the time in the world while she held down the fort. As if anyone had asked her what she wanted.

“Sure. Okay.” She turned away, but couldn’t help the impulse to tend and nurture. “Well, go soak in the onsen. You kinda look like you could use it.”

***

Mari’s mother carried the wine shipment to the storage room by the kitchen as Mari washed dishes and her father cooked for the guests. Wiping her face with a towel, Mari asked, “Do you think Yuuri might like to help with the dishes? We had a lot of people this afternoon, and the evening crowd is starting to trail in.”

“Oh, he’s headed to the rink,” replied Hiroko. Mari stared in astonishment at her mother. Five hours. Not even five hours home and he was already running away. She shook her head and did what she always did: stayed where she was, and did what needed to be done.

***

In the days following the World Figure Skating Competition, the network aired stories about the skaters. Yuuri sat with the guests, glued to the TV, watching his beloved skaters. 

Sure, he missed it. Mari got it. If she were forced away from Yutopia for a week, she supposed she’d miss the rhythm of the day. She just wished that he would notice the people around him and their needs, just a little bit.

Yuuri’s clutch on the remote dissuaded even old Toshiyuki-sama from asking to watch the soccer match.

***

Things were almost quiet for a week or so, though Yuuri was clearly pining; but then, when did Yuuri not pine? There was a bit of drama when Nishigori called to say his girls had posted some video of Yuuri skating the previous week. The Right People had apparently noticed it a few days ago, and by this morning All The World was talking about it. Yuuri, in predictable fashion, went full-on drama queen; customers downstairs asked what the ruckus was. Luckily, Yuuri’s emotional upheaval affected the functioning of the onsen not at all, thought Mari as she closed the door she’d opened in alarm when she heard Yuuri’s shouting.

The onsen was surprisingly busy; all the guest rooms were full when the man with white-blond hair arrived just before noon the next day. 

“I’m sorry; no rooms are available until at least 3 p.m.,” she told him, “but I can hold your backpack in storage - and you can relax in the onsen until it’s ready,” she added, noticing that he was visibly tired.

“That would be perfect,” he said, in a warm Russian accent. “I’ve been traveling since 6 a.m. yesterday.”

“It’s a long trip! My brother Yuuri went to Moscow for a competition when he was in high school. He was exhausted when he got home.” She navigated to the guest entry page on the computer. “May I have your name?”

He smiled. “Victor Nikiforov.”

The name rang a bell. It connected with her previous comment about Yuuri, and she replied, “Aren’t you a figure skater? Do you know my brother?”

The smile widened. “I do. He invited me here, in fact.”

_Yuuri, you big jerk. You could have warned me we were expecting another guest._

“He’ll be happy to see you. I haven’t seen him yet today, but I’ll tell him you’re here when I do.”

She finished checking him in, provided him with a pair of towels and also a yukata – a comfy robe that he could wear after he got out of the bath – and asked Toshia to lead him through the process for using the onsen. It seemed almost patronizing to give such basic instructions to an adult, but not all foreigners knew to bathe first, and hygiene was important for maintaining the high standards that kept Yutopia in business.

When she got back to the desk, Sato-sama was waiting for her and she went to process his checkout.

“Ah, Mari-san!” he said. “I’ve changed my mind and will be staying another night. I’m sure that’s possible, right?”

Mari opened her mouth in dismay, and closed it quickly, mind whirring. Sato-sama was one of their best clients. She kept her hands relaxed at her sides and said, “That is absolutely fine. We enjoy having you stay with us!” 

The moment he turned his back, Mari ran upstairs to deep-cleaning the washitsu, a multipurpose room that had fallen into use as storage. She moved the random boxes to her own room, pounded the futon stored in the closet to remove the dust, then pulled a chair out of an actual storage room. The spare sheets were clean and dry, but they’d have a hell of a time turning over the rooms quickly if the guests checked out at the same time since they were now using more than half the sheets owned by the onsen. By the time she was done, she was dusty, disheveled, and exhausted. She came downstairs to find a plethora of boxes had been delivered, and were piled haphazardly in the antechamber.

She saw Yuuri talking to the blond skater in the dining room and leaned in. “Hey Yuuri, what’s up with all these boxes?”

“Think you can take them to the room where I’ll be staying?” Victor asked blithely. Mari stared, exhausted, and made a command decision. “Why, yes. Yuuri will be happy to carry those upstairs for you.” Amazingly, he did. Mari buffed her nails and went to have a cup of tea in the kitchen.

**

Business was brisk the next day. Mari wished either that business was regularly this brisk, so they could afford to hire someone outside the family, or that a certain newly-returned family member might consider helping out. When she delicately mentioned this to her mother, Hiroku told her that Yuuri was, as usual, at the ice rink - or possibly training, since a guest mentioned having seen him in the park.

Hiroku told Mari that the man with the white-blond hair who had been caterwauling outside Yuuri’s door last night – hah! She hadn’t dreamt it! – was a famous figure skater who had come to be Yuuri’s coach, and hadn’t Mari recognized him from all those pictures on Yuuri’s walls?

She hadn’t, actually. Mari took a quick peek in Yuuri’s room to look at them more closely, and was surprised to find his walls bare. A few moments of digging revealed a stack of posters hidden under Yuuri’s mattress. The polished man in the pictures didn’t bear much resemblance to the tired, disheveled man she’d checked in, nor to the very casual, disheveled, robe-clad man of later, but it did seem to be the same person. Well, that must be exciting for Yuuri. She snorted as she envisioned Yuuri hurriedly taking down the posters as Victor banged on his door the previous night.

When Mari cleaned Victor’s room and moved in the bookcase he had requested, she was slightly mollified to discover that he tipped well. But still, Yuuri was out, and likely to remain so. One more person to clean up after.

**

They came with a sound of thunder. Booted feet thumped against pavement in a rolling sound of an oncoming storm. Mari and Hiroku stared in shock as a storm surge of reporters – cameras flashing like lighting – barreled up to them, swirled around in quick eddies, then swept into the doors of Yutopia.

Mari did a quick catalog of which rooms had been cleaned, which were available, and how much food and drink they had on hand.

“Oh, good!” chirped Hiroku. “The onsen hasn’t had so many visitors in years!”

Hiroku was right, and Mari was surprised to realize how many of their visitors she recognized from seeing them on news reports and talk shows while serving food or drinks in the dining room. As she overheard plans for a tryst between two of the reporters, she decided she was getting to know more about public figures than she needed to know.

When she caught the same pair in a closet later that afternoon and glared at them until the reassembled themselves and left, she realized she now knew much, much more than she needed to about public figures.

**

That evening, Mari found Yuuri and Victor having an early dinner in a private dining room with a wiry blond boy. Her first reaction was dismay at seeing yet another visitor; the horde of reporters had taken over the dining room, and they appeared to be leaving and arriving in shifts. Business was better than it had been in years. Mari had plenty to do, looking after them all. 

“Jeez, Yuuri, you have another visitor?” she asked, and even she could hear the fatigue in her voice.

Then the boy turned around, and – "Ah! No way! He looks like my idol, the Blond Takao!" Mari couldn’t help but exclaim. This was the best thing she'd seen all week.

“His name is Yuuri too, isn’t that funny?” asked her mother as she bustled in. Because even that couldn’t be simple. 

"That's just gonna be confusing." Command decisions were best, Mari was finding, and made one. "We'll call you Yurio."

She mentally reviewed the available rooms, or lack thereof. “…so where will Yurio be sleeping?”

“Upstairs?” her darling little brother said blithely.

Mari’s brain exploded. There was only one room he might be talking about, and with the deluge of visitors, it hadn’t been cleaned in … “what, in the storage room? It’s gonna need a major cleaning first!” She started up the stairs, stopped herself, and leaned back to look in the private dining room. They were his guests, he could bloody well help. “Yuuri, come help me.”

She thought she heard him following her, but he never arrived in the storage room. When she came out with a box – yet more dusty boxes to be stuffed in her own now-crowded bedroom – she saw him in a track suit, literally running off. He didn’t even answer when she asked where he thought he was going. Nor, apparently, had he told his guests he was leaving. After cleaning the storage room, Mari returned to the private dining room to clear the table.

"Hey, where's Yuuri?" asked Victor.

"He headed out a while ago," Mari replied. "He either ran off to Minako's place or down to Ice Castle. It’s what he does."

She used the table to lever herself to her feet, then lifted the tray. They really needed another person. Maybe they could afford to bring in someone on a part-time basis. Surely they could find someone with experience enough that they wouldn't need much training....

The next morning, she checked with a staffing agency while eating breakfast. No one was available – at least, no one who sounded dependable. She checked the rates to place a help wanted ad – did people even still look at those? She had started to write the ad when called to help customers in the dining room. Such interruptions were the rule of the week; it took her three days just to find time to write out what they were looking for, and to place the ad.

**

“So, Mari, are you looking forward to seeing Yuuri and Yurio compete?” asked Victor as Mari served them dinner.

She straightened, and her voice was wry as I answered. “I won’t, actually. I haven’t seen Yuuri skate since he was in high school. The onsen keeps us too busy. Since all the guests are planning on being at the competition tomorrow, we’ll be using the time to do maintenance on the public rooms.” Her foot pointed to the mat beneath it. “The tatami mats have been getting a beating with all the visitors.”

Victor’s face went blank and then lit up with a magazine-ready smile. “Oh, I never thought of that! They’ll be filming, so maybe you’ll be able to watch on TV.”

_You’re not used to talking to people whose lives don’t revolve around skating_ , she thought, and said, “Maybe." 

**

“Why don’t you skate?”

Mari picked up the laundry and looked over her shoulder at Victor.

“I never really had time to learn. I did a year of ballet when I was little, but I started helping mom and dad with the onsen, and I guess I didn’t have the energy to do both, not and keep up with my homework, too.”

Victor had been tailing Mari for the past several days since Yurio left in a melodramatic huff of teenage angst. Yuuri was, for some reason, apparently sharing some of that angst, despite not being a teenager, and despite having won their Great Faceoff of the Century that had the town in an uproar. Proving true to form, he was hiding in his room much of the day, leaving his guest – excuse me, coach – at loose ends. To amuse himself, Victor apparently wanted to learn the daily routine of the onsen. It was gratifying to have someone pay attention, to _see_ her.

“You’re out of school now. Did you ever think of trying it?”

Mari laughed, nodding to the onsen around her. “Duties expand to fill up time. It’s been weeks, maybe a couple months, since I went out just for fun, rather than on errands.”

“Now that Yuuri’s home, you should have more time to do things for yourself.”

She stared at Victor incredulously. “After the past few days, I think you know more about the running of the onsen than Yuuri does. I’m not sure he could even list the necessary tasks.”

Victor frowned for a moment, then his face brightened in the smile that said, _I’m going to make a suggestion, and the world is going to do as I say._

“I know! We weren’t planning to practice until the afternoon tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, you go ice skating with Yuuko, and Yuuri and I will take care of the onsen! You said I know what to do. What could possibly go wrong?”

And the world – and Mari – did as Victor said.

***

The next morning found her, bright and early, at Ice Castle Hasetsu, with Yuuko tying on her skates for her. It was technically half an hour until public skate; it was technically Yuuko’s day off. _Only Victor could talk someone into coming into work on their day off and looking happy at the prospect._

Yuuko smiled up at her, the same shy, sweet smile she’d had when she and Mari were classmates in primary school.

“Victor called last night and specially asked me to sharpen a few sets of our rental skates before I left, to make sure we got you in just the right size and to make sure you had a fresh edge to work with.”

“A fresh edge?” Mari asked, mystified.

“Skates get dull, and that can make it harder to move on the ice. It’s so sad you didn’t learn skating with us. It would have been nice to have another girl my own age in the Learn to Skate class. It was a weird year – there were older and younger kids, but only Takeshi and I from our grade. I hope you really enjoy today!” Yuuko concluded, tying off the skate with a satisfied tug.

Half an hour later, Mari was starting to enjoy herself, and to be amazed at what Yuuri had been able to do even as a small boy, seemingly effortlessly. It was also really, _really_ nice to spend time with someone who was neither a family member nor a customer. Mari literally wasn’t sure if that had happened at any time since high school.

Yuuko laughed as Mari, standing still on the ice as they talked about what she had learned, suddenly felt her feet slip out from under her. 

“It looks like you’re getting tired. A half hour can be a long time for what is almost your first time on the ice. You did really well!” 

Mari managed to stand up – it was the first thing Yuuko had taught her how to do – and they headed to the door in the boards at the edge of the ice.

“I don’t suppose you had plans for after this?” Yuuko asked. “I have some shopping to do, and it would be fun to turn it into more of a girls’ outing rather than just another errand to run.”

Mari’s mouth opened to say that she had to get back to the onsen, then heard herself saying, “I’m not due back until noon. That would be great.”

***

She managed to stay away from the onsen until almost a quarter past eleven. She took the beach walk back, and was surprised to see Victor and Yuuri, well ahead of her, dashing onto the beach and into the ocean.

 _Such responsible caretakers of the onsen_ , she thought wryly as they fled. Mari rolled her eyes, mellow enough after human interaction that didn’t involve family and home responsibilities that the boys’ defection seemed almost funny instead of exasperating. Her pace barely quickened as she went to see what they’d left undone.

She was pleasantly surprised to find the laundry in progress and several rooms cleaned after the guests had departed before checkout time. The floors were – she swept another missed patch – mostly clean. An effort had been made, at least. Moving the laundry from washer to dryer, she noticed suspiciously few towels in evidence.

“Tou-san,” she said to Toshiya after he had finished serving guests their drinks,” do you know if Yuuri and Victor cleaned the baths before they headed out?”

“I think so – I saw them head back there for a bit, anyway, and Victor was reciting the things they needed to do.”

Mari’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and glanced at the clock. “Men’s bathing time is about to end, and the women’s time starts in about a half an hour. Do you know if any men are left in the baths now?”

Toshiya listed all the people he had seen come out, and gave Mari a possibly-reliable answer that he thought everyone had already cleared out. With a tilt of her head, she headed back to the baths to clear the stack of towels she was certain she would find, and perform whatever cleaning desperately needed to be done to maintain the onsen’s good reputation.

***

Sato Daisuke stretched one last time, and stepped out of the bath. As he dried himself off, he frowned at the mound of towels overflowing their receptacle, and the shower benches that looked like they hadn’t been wiped down – unless the Katsuki family didn’t straighten the benches when they cleaned them.

Balancing his towel carefully on top of the heap in the receptacle, he picked up the spray bottle of cleaning fluid and a rag he found in the cabinet and went to work. His family hadn’t owned an onsen in more than five years now, but old habits died hard.

He was just straightening the last stool when he heard a noise, then a woman’s voice called from around a corner, “Hello? Is anyone in here?”

***

Mari glanced at the bath area, which was indeed empty, and showed signs of having been kept tidy enough, and headed straight for the showering area and the towels she was sure to find.

She rounded the corner to see a pleasantly-plump man of about her own age, stark naked, sanitizer bottle and rag in hand, bent over and straightening one of the stools by the shower heads. She backed up quickly, face flaming, almost certain the “erk” sound she made wasn’t really audible.

“Hello?” she called, pretending she had not just ogled a customer, “Is anyone in here?”

There was a flurry of sound that Mari interpreted as the man hastily pulling on a yukata, and the man replied, “Yes, I’m sorry, I got distracted.”

He appeared in the doorway.

“Distracted?” she asked. _You’re not the one with the excuse to be distracted._

He colored slightly, gesturing towards the heaping pile of towels and the tidy rows of benches that weren’t currently in Mari’s line of sight.

“My family used to own an onsen – Satomura Onsen. Old habits die hard. Oh, I beg your pardon. I’m Sato Daisuke.”

“Katsuki Mari,” she replied absently. The name rang a bell. “Wasn’t your onsen the second last in Hasetsu? It just disappeared one day. I wondered what happened to it.”

The man scratched the back of his head. “I got a job in Tokyo working with computers. My parents decided to retire. The job is done now, so I moved back to Hasetsu to be with my parents.”

Mm. Recently unemployed, and living with his parents. Probably not reliable.

“Well, welcome back to Hasetsu. I hope you enjoyed your time in the hot springs.” She winced as she maneuvered back into sight of the mound of towels. It was worse than her first impression. He hovered behind her as she tried to sort them into manageable bundles.

“Erm, can I help you carry those?”

She turned and stared at him, and once again made a command decision.

“Do you need a job? I mean, it would only be part time, and mostly only when my brother is in town. Which sounds counterintuitive –“ her hand waved vaguely at the pile of towels – “but his figure skating coach is famous, and we have a lot more business when they’re in town.”

Daisuke blinked. “I hadn’t ...” He trailed off, then resumed. “Yes, I would love a job, and can fill in at need while I’m back in Hasetsu.”

He ended up getting dressed, thankfully, before helping her with the laundry. For all that it had been a while – half a decade or more, Mari thought – he knew what needed doing to tend to the onsen, and slid seamlessly into tandem with her. By the end of the half hour, the baths looked their usual pristine selves, and Mari? Mari had an ally.


	2. Simple Gifts

“Dai-chan, is that you?” called his mother as Daisuke entered the flat he had bought for his parents.

“Yes, ka-san.”

“I expected you back hours ago,” she remarked as he kissed her cheek.

“You’ll never guess what happened. I got a job!” he replied, his eyes crinkling.

“Did you meet an investor at Yutopia?” she asked, interested.

He broke into a full smile. “No! I got a job at the onsen!”

She stared at him in amazement. “If you had wanted to work in an onsen, you could have done that years ago.”

He bumped his shoulder against hers. “Yes, but now I’ve had a taste of the stress of running a software company. Since I’ve sold it, I need something to do. Weren’t you just telling me yesterday that it’s wrong for someone my age not to have a job? Well, now I get to honor family tradition and not be the one in charge, all at once. It’s perfect!”

She shook her head at him, but still made his favorite dinner. He prepared the vegetables.

***

It was almost soothing to have Victor there while Yuuri was gone for the Grand Prix Series opening interview. He never helped, but he wasn’t supposed to, and his sunny smile lightened Mari’s mood and made her happy to coddle him.

Daisuke manned the kitchen in the afternoon, further brightening the atmosphere of the old place. His work left everyone free to sit in the dining room and watch Yuuri announce his theme for the Grand Prix. Mari thanked him for managing everything, and brought out the snacks to friends and family.

She entered the dining room in time to hear Yuuri talking about love – well, that was different.

“I was lucky to have people supporting me, but I had a hard time accepting that support. So I always felt like I was fighting alone.”

Mari rolled her eyes as she arranged things on the table. Fighting alone, her ass. His difficulty in accepting help blinded him to just how hard others worked to support him.

Still, as she straightened up, she turned towards the TV, caught by a tone in Yuuri’s voice she had never heard there before. Gone was the wishy-washy, “I need more time to figure out what I want to do” flailing from his first day home. It was as if a spark of determination had finally found dry tinder, and he had caught fire. Her jaw dropped open just a little, watching her brother transforming into a phoenix on TV.

“I don't really have a name for that emotion, but I've decided to call it love. It's changed me.”

 _Yes_ , she thought, her eyes straying towards Victor, sitting at the front of the group, his eyes alight. _He really has._ She wondered how much of the speech Victor was picking up on; he and Yuuri always spoke English together.

“The first thing we're going to do when he gets back here is burn that necktie. It's hideous!” Victor exclaimed.

Nope. Nada.

***

Makkachin came to get Mari and forced her to watch both days of the Cup of China. With Victor and Yuuri away, Daisuke wasn’t working that day, and she bustled about performing her usual chores. Makkachin snuffled around her and nudged her out to where everyone had gathered in front of the TV. He definitely had herding instinct, and had enough weight to bully her into taking a break. She hadn’t actually seen her brother skate in more than a decade. She hadn’t sat and watched television in as long as she could remember.

 _All sorts of new experiences around here_ , she thought, hand digging into the fur on Makkachin’s back. The dog wiggled and leaned into her. Mari would never admit to cuddling a dog. Makkachin didn’t care if she admitted it or not.

The skating didn’t look much like she remembered. Gone were the careful steps and obvious attention to balance. When Yuuri danced on the ice, he looked like he was flying, opening his arms to soar.

_I see now why he loves it._

***

Daisuke was a wonder. Mari loved steamed buns, and Daisuke seemed to actually enjoy the finicky work that went into making them. Mari put the pork in to marinate overnight; when Daisuke came in the morning, he set it to bake and basted it every half hour. Mari made the dough and set it to rise; Daisuke deboned and chopped the meat. They worked together to assemble the buns, hands brushing as they reached for the bowls of filling, eyes meeting and turning back to their work. Mari blushed slightly; the corners of Daisuke’s mouth turned up.

They put them in the bamboo steamer as people were setting up in the dining room to watch the Rostelecom Cup short program. They worked together to do the dishes, and finished just in time to take the fresh buns out of the steamer. Mari put some in plastic baggies for the shrine and most in a serving dish for the guests, then set the buns in their respective locations. Meanwhile, Daisuke plated some of the buns for their own dinner, which they took in the companionable quiet of the kitchen, leaning side by side against the counter.

Mari bit into a steamed bun, and her eyes closed as she savored it. Daisuke was _amazing_. She could feel her whole body relaxing as she chewed and swallowed. Her face relaxed enough for the edges of her mouth to tilt up. She opened her eyes to find Daisuke watching her while eating a bun of his own.

He swallowed and asked, “Do you like it?”

“Oh,” she breathed, “it is _so_ good.” He had a dimple, and it briefly appeared. “What?” she asked suspiciously.

“I just like it when you enjoy my food.”

Mari’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as she took another bite. Still ridiculously good.

After she’d eaten several bites, Daisuke shifted, turning more towards the counter, and he seemed to pay a great deal of attention to his food for the next couple of minutes.

Mari, free to watch him now that he wasn’t watching her so intently, enjoyed the sight. The movement of his neck when he swallowed was surprisingly erotic, and when he had finished his meal and turned towards her, he caught her staring. Her eyes went first to his lips then met his eyes. His own eyes widened slightly, and his lips parted. She waited for her mother to bustle into the kitchen.

Nope. Nada.

It was a sign. And time for another command decision. Mari leaned forward, then hesitated, wondering if she was about to inappropriately assault her employee. Daisuke closed the remaining distance and touched his lips to her own.

Their lips met, parted, met again. Gradually, the kiss deepened, and their arms snuck around one another. An eternity later, a huge cheer and shouts of “Go, Yuuri!” erupted from the dining room, and the broke apart, gasping, their legs intertwined as they rubbed against each other. Mari looked vaguely horrified. 

“Even if no one comes in here, we are _not_ going any further in a food prep area.” 

Daisuke laughed, and Mari grabbed his hand and led him to the back stairs. They had paused for a kiss on the landing when a strange wheezing sound came from the shrine room, followed by the scrabble of paws, then more wheezing.

Mari broke from Daisuke’s arms and rushed to the open door. “Oh, no! Makka got into the steamed buns!”

Mari held Makka still while Daisuke tried to fish the bun out of his throat. Makkachin kept wiggling, obviously in distress. _Oh, my god. Makkachin is going to die while Yuuri’s at a competition, just like Viichan, and it’s all my fault for leaving the door open so he could get to them. And they’re Daisuke’s special buns!_ She could feel herself start to sweat in a panic reaction.

Daisuke looked up at her. “Do you have a vet?”

Mari nodded. “We can take the minivan.”

“Great. You call to warn them we’re coming; I’ll carry him to the car.”

Mari grabbed her phone and the keys and caught up with Daisuke as they got to the back door.

***

_Shit shit shit. It’s all my fault. I should have been watching. This is just like last year. They’re away from home, the dog’s going to die, all because I wasn’t good enough to prevent it. Shit shit shit._

Daisuke kept shooting glances her way, but Mari kept staring straight ahead, willing them to get to the vet’s place faster. It felt as if not looking straight ahead and holding her body tense would cause Makka to die.

The vet staff came out to meet them as the van pulled into the parking space by the door. She and Daisuke were stopped by the guy at the front desk as Makka was whisked away to the back. Ten minutes of tense hand holding – when did they start holding hands? – and the vet came to the front. No Makkachin. Mari’s eyes started to water, and she blinked.

“So – we got the steamed bun out of Makkachin’s esophagus. We want to do some x-rays to check for more plastic in the stomach, and also to check for aspiration pneumonia, which if he has it would be very dangerous. We want to keep him overnight for observation until he comes out of the anesthesia anyway. Go home and get some sleep, and we’ll give you the updates in the morning.” The vet smiled kindly.

Mari looked at Daisuke, her brain still chanting, _it’s my fault, it’s my fault, Makka might die, and it’s all my fault._

“I’ve gotta call Yuuri and tell him,” she said blankly.

Daisuke squeezed her hand. “You go call. I’ll take care of things at the desk.”

Mari dialed the number as she walked out front. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing as the phone rang.

“Hello?” came Yuuri’s voice. _Well, here it goes_ , she thought. _Tell me what an awful person I am._

"Hey, Yuuri. I'm sorry to call during an event, but Makka got into the steam buns and one of them got stuck in his throat. Anyway, we're at the vet right now, but they're not sure he's going to make it. They're going to x-ray him to see if he has some kind of deadly pneumonia and they’re keeping him overnight to see if he wakes up from the anesthesia."

After assuring him that at least they got the plastic-wrapped bun out, Mari hung up. Daisuke came outside and drove her home. She gave him a hug and a kiss before resting her head on his shoulder for a moment, then walked into the onsen without looking back.

***

He was there the next morning. Just … there. Cleaning. Like he was supposed to be working that day. Mari stared at Daisuke blankly.

“You looked like you might need some extra bandwidth today, so I thought I’d come by,” he said cheerfully in reply to the question she hadn’t asked. “And I’ll drive so you can cuddle Makkachin when we pick him up.”

“If he’s still alive,” she replied glumly.

Daisuke blinked. “What do you mean, if he’s still alive?”

“The vet said he might have some kind of deadly pneumonia, and sometimes dogs die from anesthesia. I’m afraid to call. Vicchan died in my arms while I was supposed to be taking care of him last year, this year it’s Makkachin. I’m lethal to skaters’ dogs.”

“But … the vet didn’t call last night, right?”

“No. Why would she?”

“She said she’d call if the x-rays showed anything, and while they like to keep animals under observation until they wake up, if they’re going to die from anesthesia, it’s usually within the first fifteen minutes. If you haven’t heard anything, Makka is just fine.”

Mari’s face was rarely expressive; now, it was stone. No, if one wanted to know what Mari was thinking, Daisuke thought, one had to watch her body language, and that was screaming.

“Oh, sweetheart. You’re not a menace to dogs everywhere.” He took her hand. “You are one of the most conscientious people I know. You have a solid work ethic, and you always strive to be on top of things. No one can control everything, and Makka is clever. It’s not your fault the door doesn’t latch, nor that he’s learned how to open it.

Mari blinked.

“Makka can open doors?

“Oh, yes. I’ve seen him do it. Very agile. No one can fully defend a trickster dog. They are impetuous and foolhardy. But Makka also has you to get him out of scrapes, so he survives.” He squeezed her hand.

“C’mon, let’s go pick him up.”

***

Makka followed them around upstairs as they cleaned, and followed Daisuke into the shrine room.

“You keep away this time. We really don’t want to take you back to the vet, and I’m betting you don’t want to go.” With a sigh, Makka settled to the floor several feet in front of the shrine. Daisuke’s eyes went from Makka to the picture on the shrine, and the corners of his mouth turned down.

“Makka!” Mari exclaimed, then, as she noticed Daisuke, “You’re watching him?”

Daisuke held out his hand to Mari to invite her in as he replied, “I am.”

With the other hand, he gestured to the picture. “How old is Yuuri in that picture?”

“I dunno. About eight, I guess?”

“And how old is Yuuri now?”

“Twenty four.”

“So he was twenty three when Vicchan died.”

Mari looked at Daisuke curiously. “Unless time goes out of order, yes, that would follow.”

“So Vicchan was fifteen when he died in your arms.”

“I guess so? Why?”

Daisuke sighed and turned to lean his forehead against Mari’s. “What is the average lifespan of a toy poodle?”

Mari looked at him wide-eyed. “I have no idea.”

“I do. Fourteen to sixteen years is considered a normal lifespan. So you’ve been beating yourself up over the death of a dog who lived a good, long life, was well-kept and cosseted, until it died quite literally in the arms of its family.”

Mari stared, and swallowed hard. “It wasn’t me?”

“Not unless you have control over time and space.”

Mari smiled tremulously. “I can control the space in the onsen.”

Daisuke smiled back.

“And I can control my own time. It’s time to get back to work.”

Daisuke gave her a final squeeze, and they returned to the comforting rhythm of the onsen.

***

It was almost dinnertime when Victor walked in, looking haggard. He opened his mouth – presumably to ask Mari for news – when Makkachin bounded out of the stairwell and knocked him over. There was a look of joy on Victor’s face nothing like his magazine smile, and he buried his face in Makka’s neck.

Victor explained his return a little while later, as Mari settled him at a table and Daisuke collected food and umeshu.

“Yuuri was hysterical. He was convinced Makka was going to die, and that I had to be here instead of with him. Honestly, I thought he would be more uncomfortable with me there and worrying about Makka, than he would be if I came home to make sure everything was alright. But Yakov will take good care of him.”

“Didn’t you say Yakov shouts a lot? That’s where Yurio learned it, right? That’ll be … an experience.” Mari nodded sagely, one side of her mouth tilting up.

“So once the vet removed the steam bun, why did you think Makka still might die?” Victor asked, cocking his head.

Mari’s eyes dropped, and she blushed. “I kill dogs.”

Victor stared at her.

“She thinks she kills dogs,” corrected Daisuke, setting food on the table. “Last year, Yuuri’s dog Vicchan died in Mari’s arms. His _fifteen year old_ toy poodle died while she was touching him. Ergo, she killed him.” Daisuke shrugged slightly.

Victor turned back to Mari. “You do know that’s a normal age for a toy poodle, right?”

Mari propped her elbows on the table and put her face in her hands.

“Since this morning, she does,” Daisuke assured him. “But last night she was convinced she was Death to Skater Dogs, incarnate.”

“That explains why Yuuri was so worked up. They’re both convinced dogs die while he’s away.”

“Pretty much,” Daisuke agreed, and poured some of the plum wine for Mari. As hoped, her hands dropped from her face to pull it towards her.

She and Victor watched Yuuri’s free skate and cheered him on, while Daisuke helped out her parents for the evening.

***

“So…how would you like to have dinner with me?” Daisuke asked. It was his day off; never the less, he had stopped by and was wiping down the onsen with sterilizer as they talked.

Mari blinked and flushed. “I don’t have anything to wear for an evening out. I never go anywhere.”

“I was thinking more an evening in. I’d like to introduce you to my parents.”

 _Oh, god, that’s even worse. Just different clothes. Though it’s easier to look respectable than sexy._ She stood, floundering, mouth opening slightly and closing.

“If it’s too soon, that’s fine. It doesn’t have to be this week. But I want you to know that I’d like to introduce you, if you’re interested.”

“And just when would that be?”

“Thursday.”

That gave her tonight and tomorrow to buy a dress. A dress or… well, _something_ that looked vaguely like a person who might be kind-of sort-of dating their son. In a sense where they hadn’t actually had sex, but only because they’d been interrupted. Mari kept pulling away, waiting for disaster to strike, the couple of times they’d kissed since three days before. Maybe some kind of sanctioning of whatever-the-hell-this-was would help her, erm, get a move on.

Mari licked her lips, bit the lower one slightly. “Thursday’s our slow day. Sure. Why not.”

Daisuke gave her hand a squeeze, his eyes smiling at her, and headed out a little while later. She peeked around the corner to watch him go, then pulled out her phone.

“Yuuko? Are you busy this evening?”

***

“It’s so nice to get away from the house! I hope I don’t come home to find the girls have taken over known civilization, or convinced Takeshi to play horse. They’re too big, and he’ll throw his back out.”

Mari held up another dress, grimacing slightly, and put it back on the rack. “They’re only six, and he’s a big guy.”

“All three of them at once? Jumping?”

Mari paused. “Ok, yeah, that’s a problem.”

Yuuko picked up a flowered dress. “What about this?”

Mari winced. “That’s really not me.”

“Yes, well, but that’s because almost all you ever wear is your work uniform. You should let yourself out of the box – experiment a little! You can choose to be whoever you want to be.” Yuuko’s eyes shone with enthusiasm.

Mari leaned back slightly. “I don’t want to change my whole image. I like who I am. I don’t want to be a Whole New Me. I just want to…”

“Look like someone who gets out once in a while?”

“Yeah.”

“So, what does that Mari look like?”

“Comfortable. Low-key. Relaxed. Relaxed would be nice.”

Yuuko bit her lip.

“What?”

“Oh, just from what I saw last time I was at Yutopia, Daisuke might help you with that last part.”

Mari blushed. “We’ll see.”

She turned away from Yuuko, and her eye lit on a pair of loose-legged trousers in dull orange, comfortingly in the same color family as her work uniform. She fingered the large buttons on the placket, then picked her size off the rack. She paired it with a simple knit shirt, white with dark blue polka dots, and finished it off with a dark blue waist-length jacket with poofy, rucked-up sleeves.

Mari turned around to find Yuuko staring, and stopped. “What?”

Yuuko smiled. “You were just so focused. You looked like you were on a mission.”

“Do you think it’ll work?”

Yuuko looked deeply uncertain. “Why don’t you go try that on?”

When Mari came out of the dressing room, Yuuko’s mouth dropped open.

“I didn’t think that would work together, but it really does! You look amazing!”

Mari forcibly settled the butterflies in her stomach. _It’s only clothing. It’s only a meal._

***

So Dai … had a sister. A very voluble, energetic sister. A sister who was determined to like Mari.

Mari shifted so that Dai was between her and Yua, but her retreat was thwarted when her back came in contact with the door. If only it opened outward instead of inward, she could just turn the handle, and….

“I’m so glad to meet you, Mari-san! Oniichan has told us so much about you! He’s been so happy since he started working at the onsen.” Her bright smile switched from Mari to her big brother, and she apparently caught the uncomfortable glances her parents were exchanging.

“Come on, you know he was miserable running a software company. I was glad when he sold it. Do you know how many people die of overwork in Tokyo? And it’s not like he’s stopped coding, so you can’t complain he’s wasted his schooling.”

Yua turned back to Mari and asked, “What do you think of the tourism app he’s creating for Hasetsu?”

Mari felt as if several minor explosions had just gone off in her head.

Owned, not worked at a tech company.

Sold, not quit.

Forward-thinking, not coasting along taking odd jobs.

She looked at Daisuke, her eyes big.

“I haven’t talked about it yet, since it’s still in early stages.” He turned to face Mari, and he paused slightly as he saw her posture. 

“It’s an app that suggests activities for you to try based on what you’re in the mood for,” he said, his voice gentling. “If you’re in the mood to do something energetic, it provides a list of places where you can skate, rock climb, surf, etc. If you want to go to a restaurant, it suggests some based what you’ve liked in the past and on the ratings people have given to the restaurants in town, although it takes into account the current wait time for a table, if the app can determine how long that is. If you want to try something new, it looks at the types of things you’ve enjoyed before, and runs an algorithm to suggest a place you’ve never been or an activity that you’ve never tried that there’s a high chance that you will like.”

“Oh,” said Mari numbly, “that sounds like a great idea.”

Dai gently took Mari’s hand and led her to a comfortable spot. “I hope it will be. I think it would be useful both for people in town, and people visiting Hasetsu. I was even thinking of making specific tracks for job types – for figure skaters, it would suggest Ice Castle, Yutopia, the skate shop, several local costumers and massage therapists, etc.”

“You could spend more time working on coding if you weren’t working another job,” interjected his mother.

“I don’t think I would have had the idea if I weren’t working at the onsen. People get in ruts, and they don’t know how to get out of them. If they had someone – or something – suggest an activity for them, they would be able to find something new. I got the idea from people watching at the onsen.” He leaned over and kissed his mother’s cheek. “And working there reminds me of happy memories when you owned an onsen, so that’s nice too.”

“And those are the only reasons you’ve enjoyed working in the onsen?” Yua chirped.

***

“Well, that could have gone worse,” Mari admitted, slipping into the steaming, open-air hot spring at the back of the onsen. It was after hours, and they had the place to themselves.

“I think it went surprisingly well.”

Mari raised an eyebrow as Dai leaned back and put his arms along the edge.

“Seriously. My mother liked being able to brag about her son who owned the tech company, though I admit she wants me to go back there. Yua saw how hard it was; mom just saw the glamor. I think dad’s happy that I’m working in an onsen again; ours came from his family. Do you remember how much he praised the quality of Yutopia?”

Mari slid right past the implied compliment. “So, what will you do if this new app takes off?”

“I’d like to build it out for different cities. The framework will be there, but I’ll have to find people I trust to vet the places we initially recommend in other towns.”

As Dai continued to talk, Mari found herself admiring the brightness of his eyes as he engaged in talking about how they would vet the places his app recommended, watched his mouth as it shaped the words.

Dai noticed her attention, and swallowed. “I like to look for quality,” he finished, his eyes meeting Mari’s then dipping to the water and away. He took his arms off the sides and turning a bit away, shifted deeper in the water.

“But won’t that railroad people into one person’s preferences?” Mari asked, trying to redirect her brain to more sensible pathways.

“That’s a danger. I definitely want something better rounded, but I really like to work with people I trust.” Dai was looking decidedly uncomfortable.

“So you want to get your fingers into the market, but you want to make sure you pull out a plum?”

Dai took a deep breath, let it out, turned away from Mari and climbed out of the hot spring.

Mari blinked. “Dai-chan? What’s wrong? Why are you leaving?”

Dai looked over his shoulder at Mari, his back still pointedly turned away from her. “Because it’s a pain in the ass to empty and refill a bath of that size, and we’ll have to if I stay much longer.” With that, he walked quickly back towards the showers, and Mari heard one turn on. 

Mari stared after him, thought about key words from their conversation, and hid a little smile behind her hand.

She waited in the hot spring, unsure whether she would be welcome while he was taking his – presumably cold – shower. After a time, he returned wearing a yukata, and helped her out of the hot spring, eyes carefully trained on her face.

“Mari, may I take you to bed?”

For once, they made it upstairs with no disasters.


	3. The Road Home

“You look happy this morning,” said Victor as he strolled into the common room the next morning.

“Why do you say that?” Mari asked as she dried a glass behind the bar.

“You’re bouncing to the music on the TV. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so relaxed before.”

Mari paused, biting her lip, then said, “I guess it must just be a good day.”

Daisuke bumped her shoulder as he took food to a customer. She looked at him, and they smiled at each other. When she turned back to face Victor, he looked amused.

“Did you and Yuuri want to have breakfast before you head to the rink?”

“Thank you, that would be lovely.”

Mari put together what she’d come to think of the Skater Standard Breakfast, and arrived with both servings just as Yuuri and Makkachin – apparently playing nursemaid to Yuuri – arrived at the table. Her little brother blinked up at her.

“Did you cut your hair while I was away?”

“Um, no?” she said, hand automatically going to her hair.

Victor gracefully inserted himself in the conversation. “Now that Yuuri’s going to the Grand Prix Final, are you going to attend? He’s got enough comp tickets for you as well as Minako.”

Mari laughed. “I never leave the onsen. I don’t even make it to the next city. I’ve never had a passport.” She started laughing again when she saw Victor’s astonishment. “Not everyone gets to travel, Victor. Most people get tied to their jobs early, and it limits their opportunities.” She ruffled his hair, just to annoy him, and walked back into the kitchen.

The next she looked out over the bar, Victor was staring steadily at his phone, then called Daisuke over to him. They held a low-voiced conversation, punctuated by a startled, “What?” from Yuuri. Dai looked thoughtful.

A short time later Dai, bless him, broke the mystery. Well, unpacked it. Bit by bit. In gentle stages.

They were doing food prep in the kitchen when he said, “Would you like to travel? See what another country is like?”

Mari glanced at him, unsettled. “I don’t think I could. Mom and dad can’t manage the onsen on their own.”

“What if I stayed here and made sure everything ran smoothly?”

Mari stopped chopping vegetables. “I thought you were suggesting we go somewhere together! I wouldn’t have any idea how to travel on my own. I don’t know how to book plane fare, or hotels, or…even know what else I might need to know! I’d be terrified.” She stared at Dai like he was crazy.

“So…Victor had this crazy idea of taking you with them to the Grand Prix Finals, as a thanks for taking care of Makkachin. He’d pay for airfare and hotel, Minako said she’d be happy to travel with you and share a hotel room for company, and Yuuri would be giving you both comp tickets. I understand skaters sometimes retire at Yuuri’s age – this could be the last chance to see your brother in a major competition.”

Mari put the knife down completely and crossed her arms over her chest. Daisuke put his hands in his pockets and leaned on the counter, facing her but not crowding her.

“What do you think?”

Mari fumbled for her cigarettes, but they weren’t in her apron pocket. She realized she hadn’t felt the urge to smoke in weeks. It left her without anything to do with her hands, and she reached for the knife to resume chopping, then set it down again, waved her hands a bit, then went back to hugging herself tightly.

“Would you like me to hug you as well, or would that be too much?” asked Dai gently.

Her eyes darted to the side, then she stepped closer to Dai and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her so that her own arms were able to relax their death grip a bit.

After a while, Mari took a deep breath and said, “I don’t even know if it’s possible to get a passport within two weeks.”

Daisuke nuzzled her hair and replied, “It is. Victor was going to try to obtain one without your knowledge, but we convinced him that, what with signatures being required and all, it would be much, much easier – and less illegal – to actually obtain your consent.”

Mari pulled away and stared at Dai with an, “are you fucking kidding me?” look on her face, then she sighed and said, “Victor.”

Daisuke smiled and replied, “Victor.”

She leaned back into his embrace. “Should I go? I mean, there’s nothing out there for me, right? I’ve never been part of the skating world. I’ve never left the country. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve left Hasetsu. My whole life is here.”

“Just because your life is here now doesn’t mean it’s the only place your life can be. I don’t think that you _can_ know if you want to travel until you do so. I won’t be disappointed if you say no, and I’ll send Victor to his room without supper if he sulks, but I think you’ll enjoy the experience, even if you end up deciding that it’s not your thing.”

Daisuke stroked her back, and didn’t comment on how she trembled.

***

Mari put the bowl in front of Victor. “So you were going to get a passport for me behind my back and then just tell me, ‘Guess what, you’re going away for a week’?”

“Of course!” said Victor. “Surprises are the best! Planning is so boring. It takes half the fun out of things.”

Mari rolled her eyes. “Y’know, passports require a signature. How were you going to manage that?”

“Oh, I was just going to hand you the application and ask you to sign it,” said Victor. “I sign anything I’m told to. I once signed something a fan handed me that turned out to be a letter saying things that would have gotten me in a lot of trouble. She released it to the press the next day, and I recognized her. I was lucky that she handed me the letter right beneath a security camera. They were able to prove it was the same letter, and that I didn’t read it before signing. The next day Yakov told me to sign something, and I did. Then he yelled at me. It turned out to be an admission of taking illegal drugs – which I don’t do – and he’s been testing me ever since, to make sure I at least look at what people hand me before I sign it. You’ve never been trained like that, so it would have been no problem,” he finished blithely.

Victor looked around the table. Mari, Daisuke, and Yuuri were staring at him. Sato-sama, at the next table, was giving him the side-eye.

“What?

***

Mari felt like what she assumed it felt like to be on high doses of illegal stimulants. She felt alive. She felt exhilarated. She felt like a balloon with too much air in it, stretched and uncomfortable.

They’d landed a few hours before. After settling into the hotel, they napped for an hour, then Minako announced it was time they went out on the town. She was relentless. 

The sights were amazing, the buildings so very different in style from anything Mari had seen before in person, the smells wafting out of the restaurants strange, and the gabble of voices incomprehensible.

It was big! It was great! So much to see!

So much to exhaust her.

Minako was a charismatic general, and Mari was inspired to fangirl over people whose names she didn’t even know because … it seemed like the thing to do.

They were trying to decide on a restaurant when Mari spotted Yurio – his hair still a beacon, reminding her of her favorite boy band. Then she noticed what Yurio was doing, and the balloon exploded in a scream.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Minako asked.

“Yurio’s enjoying the company of another human!” Mari exclaimed.

“It’s Otabek from Kazakhstan!” Minako added.

From nowhere, Yuuri’s voice asked, “What are you two doing?”

As one, they turned from where they had gotten embarrassingly close to the restaurant window, and sprang on Mari’s little brother.

“Yuuri, we need a huge favor!”

Before they made it inside, Christophe Giacometti and Phichit Chulanont walked up and joined the party, providing cover and more excuse to swarm Yurio’s cozy chat.

Mari sat down, feeling the burbling energy and excitement that had sustained her on too little sleep suddenly draining away, and then she horrified herself by bursting into tears. She didn’t know why; it wasn’t that she was upset or overwhelmed. The energy just faded away and the tears burst forth. 

“Way to play it cool, guys,” her baby brother said, and she wanted to punch him in the face. 

Chris reached over and touched Mari’s elbow lightly before she could try to dive across the table at Yuuri. “You guys looked pretty wired as we walked up to the restaurant. I’ll bet you were bouncing from place to place feeling incredibly excited. Am I right?” He made “excited” sound far dirtier than it should have, in this context.

“Um, yes?” admitted Mari dubiously.

“And now your body has decided to stop, and it’s dumping adrenaline. Watch the skaters tomorrow. After a period of going hard, your body needs some kind of … release. Some of the skaters will break down in tears. It’s a well-documented, this physical reaction to release.” Again, Mari really kind of wanted to wash her elbow where Chris had briefly touched it, but he was obviously trying to be nice.

“Oh, thanks,” she replied lamely, wiping the tears that had dried up after only a few mortifying seconds, leaving behind a feeling of utter fatigue.

Food eventually came, and it helped a little. The exhaustion lessened into a feeling of peaceful mellowness as they ate and chatted. The food was, well, foreign and Mari tried to figure out what the strange flavors were. Then Yuuri dropped the first verbal bombshell of the evening, revealing that he didn’t remember interacting with Victor at the previous year’s Grand Prix reception, and suddenly all the skaters were pulling out phones and showing off pictures from the previous year. The photos were … well, Mari had seen parties close to that shocking during the new year her father had gotten wasted on plum wine, and she never wanted to see that much of her father’s skin ever again. But pictures were a dance-off involving four hot skaters, two of whom were mostly naked, and pole dancing to boot – one of whom was her brother. Ugh. Not really what she needed to see. Therefore, she absolutely had to send them to their mother. Minako promised to forward the pictures Chris had texted her.

Then Chris lobbed a verbal bomb and exploded Yuuri the second time in under five minutes. “So, what’s with the rings you boys are wearing?”

Yuuri turned suspiciously incoherent. Like, full-on “I am desperately hiding something, maybe even from myself” incoherent. Mari knew it well.

Phichit got especially excited and announced that Yuuri and Victor had gotten married. Everyone in the restaurant clapped. Yuuri protested so desperately it was clear there was … something more to the rings than just a “good luck charm,” but he was equally clearly in deep denial. Ah, Yuuri. He would never change.

Victor went for the social-bomb hat trick, and announced that they were engagement rings, and they’d be getting married after Yuuri won the final. Mari missed the significance of this statement until she saw the other skaters’ reactions. The ease and fellowship fell away in a moment, and around the table sat a group of competitors. Mari tried not to roll her eyes.

They were saved – sort of – from testosterone poisoning by the assholery of some skater dude and his simpering hanger-on. Pretty literally hanging on – she came in clutching his arm possessively, then put up both her hands to pose and grope the guy’s chest. 

Mari had long been amused by Victor’s desperate need for attention, but he somehow made it – amusing? delightful? – to gratify his need to be attended to. This pair demanded the attention of the room and gave nothing back to their audience. They were the sort of onsen guests who demanded extra towels, extra toiletries, extra service – but rarely tipped for the extra work.

Mari was relieved when their party stood as one, tossed money on the table, and walked out, making excuses about needing sleep before the big day.

Mari needed that sleep desperately, and was glad she had Minako and the others to steer her back to the hotel. Minako and the other…one, anyway. It seemed they weren’t in the same hotel as the figure skaters, but somehow Christophe and Minako ended up walking first next to each other, then close to each other, then somehow Christophe’s arm ended up around Minako’s shoulder by the time they decided to have a drink in the hotel bar, and Mari went upstairs alone.

She almost went straight to bed, but saw her laptop peeking out of her suitcase, looking at her accusingly. Gah. She’d promised her mother to send a message as soon as they made it to the hotel, and she’d completely forgotten to do so before falling into bed for her nap.

When Mari pulled up her email, she saw her dereliction of duty had been noticed. There were ten emails from her mother – no, only nine from Ka-san – with increasingly frantic-sounding subject lines. The other email was from Daisuke. Mari smiled. Duty first.

She wrote her mother a fairly brief synopsis of the evening, mentioning the pictures and the ring. The first she’d find hilarious, and the second, delightful. She replied to Daisuke’s letter with a little more vim and even drier humor. She clicked Send, smiling wistfully at her screen, and went to bed.

***

Arriving at the arena was magic. It wasn’t necessarily _her_ magic, but the bubbling excitement lifted Mari up, more gently than the frenzy of the night before. It was the feel of thousands of people coming together for a single purpose.

“Get a picture, will you?” shouted Minako.

Well…with something similar to one purpose. A bell curve of a purpose.

Yuuri skated on air as much as ice. The one mistake – a hand on the ice after some jump that Minako was super-excited about, though the jumps all looked the same to Mari – seemed almost like Yuuri was carrying the air to join it with the ice. His skating was as far from her day on the ice as a crane’s flight from a chicken’s.

It was an adrenaline dump, Chris had said. She watched her brother fly and land, and when he finished, it felt as if she had been hooked in with Yuuri’s adrenaline. That was her excuse, and she was sticking to it. Minako handed her a tissue.

It was easier to watch the others. Mari could watch them without feeling as if they carried her along with them as they skated, the way Yuuri had. At the end of the short program competition, Mari turned to Minako. “So, what time is the free skate competition?”

“One o’clock tomorrow.”

“We have to wait for tomorrow?” They stared at each other in mutual disbelief.

***

The day was long for Mari. Everywhere around her was a babble of voices that she didn’t understand, and text she couldn’t read. OK, she could carefully sound out the letters, but even after years of English at school, the Latin alphabet seemed like funny squiggles that supposedly represented specific sounds – except when they didn’t.

And why couldn’t the competition schedule be more compact? Ok, yes, she understood why the skaters maybe needed recovery time before doing the longer program, though she could guarantee she expended more effort over the course of the day in the onsen than they did in a measly few minutes on the ice. Yes, she did realize that they’d had practice sessions in the morning and a bare six minutes on the ice to warm up before the competition.

Yes, it was beautiful. Yes, she saw Yuuri working hard – or at least, expending a lot of energy as he ran around town and played on the beach. Yes, she knew they were doing off-ice exercises backstage while the other skaters were on the ice, and yes, even the act of waiting could drain one’s energy. Just like she was waiting now, to get back to real life.

Mari and Minako compromised – they watched some of the pairs and ice dance competitions, then spent more time shopping and exploring the town, where at least Mari could move and burn off some of her energy. 

The sheer volume of free time felt unnatural and uncomfortable, and made her wonder what was happening at the onsen. Mari texted Daisuke pictures of places they visited. He laughed when she sent pictures of particularly clever marketing ideas or shared her interest in the convenient arrangement of a business’ furniture.

Minako looked over her shoulder. “We’re six thousand miles from home – just a thousand miles short of being on the other side of the planet – and you’re admiring the counter and seating arrangement in a shop.” She shook her head as they went on their way.

***

They met some of the female skaters as well that night. The ice dancers, at least, were Mari’s age, but she was stunned to realize that most of the female skaters retired due to injury before they reached their late twenties.

She mentioned her surprise to a woman at the party – not a skater, apparently, but a marathon runner.

“My theory,” the woman told her, “is that skaters have an unhealthy exercise culture. They pride themselves on doing jump after jump, even when they’re tired. What happens when you’re tired and you push, is that you do stupid shit and get hurt – if you don’t give yourself rhabdo outright. If you want to build up your endurance, sure, keep going when you’re tired – but work on footwork and things that are easy for you. And for pity’s sake, don’t do the exact same exercise every day. Mix it up a little. Take a day off once or twice a week, even. Give the body time to recover, or you’ll never be at 100%.”

Mari wasn’t sure what rhabdo was, and didn’t ask. She also didn’t want to get in an involved discussion by asking Victor or Yuuri for details, but she did wonder about the injury rate, and the incredibly low retirement age of skaters.

They ran into Chris, Victor, Yuuri, Phichit, and Celestino late in the evening.

Mari: _This is super awkward._

Daisuke: _Why is that?_

Mari: _We’re at late-night snack with a group including Christophe G and Yuuri’s old coach, Celestino. Minako seems very happy to see Celestino. Like, maybe past lovers happy._

Mari: _And they’re age appropriate._

Mari: _But I still think she hooked up with Chris last night. Even though he’s about half her age._

Dai: _Have they drawn butter knives on each other yet?_

Mari: _No, but there’s a continuous stream of shade being thrown by each._

Mari: _I really wish you were here._

Dai: _Love you, too._

***

Mari got a picture of Yuuri and Victor looking longingly at each other before Yuuri’s free skate, and another of them hugging a moment later. She sent them off to her mother.

Mari: _I told you it sounded like Victor was serious about wanting an engagement._

“Come on, Yuuri, move your ass!” Minako muttered beside her.

Mari looked up from her phone, raising her eyebrows at Minako.

“He’s going to get penalized if he doesn’t get to center ice and ready to start his program in a certain amount of time. He’s really pushing it with the rinkside drama.”

He got his ass to center ice in time, apparently, and the rest of him besides. Mari was pretty sure the song was the same one he’d skated to for the competition she’d seen on TV. Did they all just skate to the same music all season? She would ask Minako later. For now, her eyes were fixed on Yuuri, who seemed like he was giving shape to the music as he moved.

“He’s a different skater from the one who first learned that jump from Yurio,” murmured Minako.

_That was different from the other jumps?_ thought Mari. 

Minako gasped quietly. “He’s changing it!”

Mari had faith that Minako knew what she was talking about. To Mari, it…looked like skating. Yup, definitely skating. Very, very skating.

Mari barely heard when Minako shouted after Yuuri did a quadruple…something. She was there again, on the ice with her brother. Flying and dancing in the air and on the ice, cutting clean curves into the surface of the ice.

As Yuuri finished his spin and ended his program, Mari felt the tears streaming down her face.

_Maybe not an adrenaline dump, if I’m crying before it’s even done, eh?_

This time, Mari handed some of her tissues to Minako. She could learn from experience. Look at her, learning how to travel. The corner of her mouth twitched.

Mari: _My little brother just broke a world record._

Daisuke sent back a picture of everyone celebrating in the dining room of the onsen. Mari was pretty sure she saw one of the triplets trying to snag a glass of wine in the background.

About ten minutes later, Mari sent Daisuke a picture of Minako putting the crown of roses on Christophe’s head.

Mari: _Look at her eyes._

Dai: _Yeah, you may have something there. Were you watching the other guy?_

Mari: _Celestino? Not in sight. I’m not sure I dare question what Mari does away from Hasetsu._

Dai: _What happens at competitions stays at competitions?_

Mari: _I really, really hope so. I’m not sure I’d want Chris to spend time in the hot springs. We’d have to refill them._

As they left their seats, Minako mentioned that there was some kind of gala skate show the next day at two.

“Do we have to stay?” asked Mari wistfully.

Minako stared at her in disbelief. Yeah, OK, Mari hadn’t really needed an answer to that anyway.

***

It was over, it was over, at last it was finally over. Yuuri and Victor were falling asleep on each other on the row opposite Minako and Mari at the airport gate.

Mari mentally replayed snapshots of the past few days as she looked through her photos:

Yurio’s dramatic gala performance – very different from the innocent-sounding short program and free skate. Mari supposed he needed something to break the ice-image.

Victor talking Yuuri into dancing again; this time, Yuuri limited his drinking, and kept his clothes on.

Phichit talking about maybe visiting Yutopia in the spring.

Chris breaking in to complain about the no-picture policy of the hot springs. Apparently he and Victor had been discussing it? Mari sincerely hoped he wouldn’t follow Phichit’s idea of a visit.

Mari paused and looked up from her camera, turning her head to where Minako sat beside her.

“Do you think Chris might visit Hasetsu?”

Minako shrugged. “He gets around.”

“You seemed like you enjoyed him this weekend.”

Minako’s mouth twitched at Mari’s careful phrasing.

“He’s got a lot of go, but it makes him go too quick.”

Mari snorted more loudly than was appropriate as Minako’s gaze shifted beyond Mari’s shoulder. Mari turned to look in time to see Phichit and Celestino wave on their way to their own flight home. She turned back to see Minako’s smile, and raised her eyebrows.

“It was a good competition,” she said.

“Yes, I see it was.”

“What was your favorite part?” Minako asked as Mari returned to looking at the pictures on her phone.

Mari’s mouth quirked. “Honestly? Going home.”

Minako’s jaw dropped. “But you hate being stuck in the onsen! You used to smoke just for an excuse to get away for a few minutes.”

Mari grimaced. “I hated feeling trapped. I hated feeling like I was working so hard to support Yuuri, but no one was supporting me. Yuuri doesn’t even know _how_ to support my work. Daisuke has changed that. I don’t need him to complete me, but he gives me the support and the space to do the things I’d like to. And he pushes me to explore possibilities I’d never even dreamed of. My world is bigger now.

Mari nodded across the aisle at the sacked-out skaters.

“So I’ll sacrifice Yuuri to the skating gods – or skating god, singular – and keep Dai for my own.”

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> DAISUKE meaning "great help" (大輔)
> 
> Family name Sato "to assist"
> 
> Yua (結愛) Meaning: “binding love and affection”


End file.
